The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Wireless sensors can be employed for a variety of purposes—e.g., to monitor physical and environmental conditions. Once a wireless sensor has collected data—e.g., data indicative of sensed physical and environmental conditions, the wireless sensor may then transmit the data to a central location for aggregation and analysis by way of a wireless network. Some wireless sensors, such as those employed by battery-powered devices, are generally sensitive to an amount of power consumed.
To conserve power, a wireless sensor can generally operate in accordance with an active state and a low-power state (or shutdown state). For example, to transmit data to a central location, a wireless sensor can transition from the low-power state (or shutdown state) to the active state, perform the operations required to transmit the data in as short an amount of time as possible, and then return to the low-power or shutdown state. In some instances, a wireless sensor may monitor physical and environmental conditions while operating in the active state. In other instances, however, a wireless sensor may monitor physical and environmental conditions outside of the active state and merely pass the data indicative of the sensed conditions during the active state.
When conventional techniques are used by a wireless sensor to transmit data over a WiFi network (e.g., an 802.11n or 802.11ac wireless network) to a central location for aggregation, the time required by a wireless sensor to establish a connection with an access point is significantly greater than the time to perform other steps associated with the actual transmission of the data to the central location.